The following information was originally published in NAVA News, in 1996, and is reprinted with
permission of the author.

It is frequently assumed that the first flag to fly in America was the
Raven banner of the Vikings, the first Europeans to discover and settle
(though not permanently) in North America. In the preface to the first
volume of NAVA's journal Raven, the name of the journal is explained. Of the
first flag in America it is said: "... it seems probable that this
first flag was the most common Norse flag, known as ’Raven, Terror of the
Land’, or more simply ‘Raven’."1
The Norse discoverers of America are presumed to have brought with them this
flag on their journeys to North America. To support this assumption, it is
pointed to the Lothbroc legend and to coins depicting a raven found in
England and Ireland.

This line of reasoning is based on the assumption that the most common
Norse flag, the one we hear most frequently of, was the flag that was
commonly used by Norse seafarers, and so was also used by Leif Ericsson when
he discovered America in AD 1000/1001. This assumption is difficult to
support

The medieval sources attribute the Raven banner to a limited number of
kings and warlords. Under the Raven banner, these men are almost exclusively
operating in the British Isles. Hallvard Trætteberg, the leading Norwegian
authority on heraldry and flags, lists six instances where the sources
mention the Raven banner:2

- The sons of Ragnar Lothbroc carried a Raven banner, Leodbroga, when
invading England, about AD 867. The banner had a raven that flapped its
wings when signaling victory for the Danes. This is the famous Lothbroc
legend.

- King Canute had a Raven banner made from white silk when he triumphed
at Ashington in 1016. The Encomium Emmae, also known as Geasta Cnutonis
Regis, says that the King had "...a banner which gave a wonderful
omen. I am well aware that this may seem incredible to the reader, but
nevertheless I insert it in my veracious work because it is true: This
banner was woven of the cleanest and whitest silk and no picture of any
figures was found on it In case of war, however, a raven was always to be
seen, as if it was woven into it If the Danes were going to win the
battle, the raven appeared, beak wide open, flapping its wings and
restless on its feet If they were going to be defeated, the raven did not
stir at all, and its limbs hung motionless."3

- Earl Sigurd of the Orkneys had a magical Raven banner made by his
mother. She gave him the banner the day before an important battle,
saying: 'Take this sign, I have made it for you. It will bring victory to
the man it precedes, but death to the man who carries it."4 The banner had a raven
that seemed to rise when the wind blew into it Sigurd then fought with the
Scottish earl and won three battles. His standard bearers fell. Then, at
the battle of Clontarf in Ireland, he had to carry the magical banner
himself, and he fell. This was supposedly on Holy Friday in 1014.

- Earl Sigvard of Northumberland was given a banner he called Landeydan
(Landwaster, or Terror of the Land) by a mysterious old man he met on a
hill top when chasing a dragon. Sigvard died 1055.

- Harald Hardruler, King of Norway, had a sign called Landeydan (Landwaster).
The King's saga, Saga of Harald Sigurtharson, tells of a quarrel between
Harald and Svein, a Danish king: "Svein asked Harald what possessions
of his he valued most highly. He answered his banner
"Land-Destroyer." Thereupon Svein asked what virtue it had to be
accounted so valuable. Harald replied that it was prophesied that victory
would be his before whom this banner was borne; and added that this had
been the case ever since he had obtained it" Then they started to
quarrel over whether this could be true.5
Harold invaded England in 1066. He was victorious under the Landeydan at
York, but was defeated at Stamford Bridge. There, the hardest battle was
fought around the Raven banner.

- William the Conqueror also had a Raven banner at Hastings, according
to Trætteberg.

In addition to these descriptions in the literary sources, coins
depicting Ravens have been found. Trætteberg mentions a bird on coins made
in York, 926-27 and 937. The bird is eagle-like but possibly a raven.
Another coin has a triangular banner fringed with bells or strips of some
kind and with a rose shaped cross as charge. There is a similar banner in
the London coin of Canute, but there is no emblem on this one.

The Raven banner seems to be well documented, both in written sources and
on coins. It is mentioned in sources treating events from the mid 800s to
1066. In addition, it is well known that ravens occupied an important place
in Norse mythology, the raven being the holy bird of Odin. However, with
respect to the Raven banner and the Norse discovery of North America, there
are some important misconceptions.

The most important misconception is that the Raven has come to be
regarded as the emblem of the Vikings. As a result of this misconception,
the banner with magical properties used by kings and warlords is seen as the
emblem that any Viking would use to identify himself. In fact, little is
known about the use of banners or standards among the Norse. Even though
banners or standards are frequently mentioned in sources such as Snorri
Sturluson's Heimskringla: The History of the Kings of Norway, we are, with a
couple of exceptions, never told what they looked like.6
It could be that Snorri assumed such banners to be commonly known to his
readers. However, it could also be that the banners usually carried only a
signaling function in war and had no symbolic value.

Further, there seems to be an assumption that the Norse discoverers used
flags in much the same way as discoverers centuries later. Note for instance
the words used by Smith and Taylor (1946) who says of Leif Ericsson in
Vinland: "He is supposed to have planted there the banner of the
Vikings, a white flag containing a raven with wings spread."7 Here it seems as if the
Raven banner is treated as a modern (national) flag. The Norse knew no
common emblem or symbols, as far as we know. Kings and warriors carried
signs or banners, especially in war, but we are not told that these signs
represented symbolically a territory or a community. Objections should also
be raised to the word `plant', because it seems to reflect the much later
practice of colonization and claiming land for a king or a country by
planting their flag in new lands. It is not known that the Norse used to do
this when taking new land. It is also not known that the Norse used flags on
their ships, though we know they used vanes.

It does not seem correct to regard the Raven banner as the common symbol
of the Vikings (or as the flag the Vikings would normally carry). The Raven
banner is attributed in the sources to a few kings and warlords. We cannot
assume that the men participating in the peaceful settlement of the lands in
the North Atlantic also carried such banners. These settlers and discoverers
set out on their own initiative and were not subject to any king. What we
know from the sources is that the Raven banner was primarily used in
campaigns in the British Isles. Because of its magic qualities, it was a
prized possession. Had such a banner been in the possession of Leif
Ericsson, we could expect the Sagas to mention it.

The Raven banner was believed to have magical qualities: It transformed
itself in times of war to predict victory for those who carried it. On its
way to America, the Raven banner has undergone a second magical
transformation, that from a banner of kings and warriors, to the emblem of
all Vikings and thus also of a seafarer like Leif Ericsson out on a private
mission to find more land suitable for the families of himself and his crew.

2 The list is based on Hallvard
Trætteberg's article "Merke og Fløy" in Kulturhistorisk leksikon
for nordisk middelalder, Vol. XI, Oslo, 1966, columns 549-555. For more
instances of the raven motive - with and without the banner - see note 3.

Perrins mentions another occasion where the magical Raven flag appeared. In
Chapter II, Pages 30/31 he writes as follows: "In the year 878 Hubba...
the brother of Hingvar and Halfdene, with 23 ships... sailed for Devon, where
with 1200 others he met with a miserable death, being slain before the castle
of Cynuit. There (the Christians) gained a very large booty, and amongst other
things the flag called Raven, for they say that the three sisters of Hingvar
and Hubba, daughters of Lodobroch, wove that flag and got it ready in one day.
They say moreover that in every battle wherever that flag went before them, if
they were to gain the victory a live raven would appear flying in the middle
of the flag, but if they were doomed to be defeated it would hang down
motionless, and this often proved to be so." I am not sure exactly where
this quotation came from for Perrin mentions both the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
and Asser's Life of King Alfred.Andre Burgers, 29 November 2004

I suppose this additional reference falls into the first of the six
instances I listed (based on Trætteberg): That of the raven banner connected
with Lothbroc and his sons.Jan Oskar Engene, 30 November 2004

It's good to have another update, to keep me out of mischief.
Unfortunately, I must take issue with Jan Oskar Engene on the matter of the
Viking raven flag. The picture he uses is taken from a coin struck here in
York in the 9th century. The design has for long been taken as showing a
raven flag with ribbons or tassels. An article in a recent issue of Nordisk
Flaggkontakt, disproved this theory. The design was that of a metal vane,
hoisted to the top of the sail-staff, in order to tell from which direction
the wind was coming. The ribbons were indeed just that, so that, even if the
wind were not enough to move the vane, small breezes could still be detected.
Moreover, the raven was just one of several designs which appeared on such
vanes.
The other aspect which I challenge is his repetition of the legend that the
Vikings who reached North America flew the Raven Flag. Were this true, it
would effectively establish the raven as the recognised sea flag (ensign or
civil?) of the Vikings, when it was no such thing. This was long before the
adoption of flag designs to designate the nationality of ships. Yes, it is
possible that a wind- vane with a raven design might have reached America,
but it was not a flag, especially not "The Viking Flag".
There were some raven-flags, but they were confined almost entirely to the
British Isles, essentially the north-west. There are documented reports of
two such flags in use, although one has magical powers attributed to it and
should be treated with caution. There was also the raven flag of Harald
Hardrada, King of Norway, who launched the last serious Viking invasion of
Britain in 1066. This was destroyed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge by
forces commanded by King Harold II of England (who would lose his kingdom
and his life at Hastings, only a few weeks later). The loss to the Vikings
was enormous. They came in some 300 longships, but after the battle, only 20
were needed to take them home. Even though there are several accounts of
this battle, none mentions a Viking flag of any kind. Perhaps Hardrada did
not bring it on campaign.
In the past, I have taken several groups on conducted tours of the
battlefield (and some others near York). At least I did until the local
council decided to build a housing estate right across the battle-site! Michael Faul, 05 October 2014

In support of Michael's statement, I direct your attention to the posting
on HFoOA which I researched years ago. It doesn't add anything to
Michael's better written statement, but supports it. (See:
http://www.loeser.us/flags/colonies.html). There was also a well
written, better researched article in Raven (the NAVA publication) about
the very same thing several years ago, but being on the road returning from
New Orleans, I don't have access to it, but perhaps somebody else on list
does?
On another note, the presentation on FOTW's 20th was well received at
NAVA 48.Pete Loeser, 06 October 2014